The Shadow Girl
by Wickedlovely01
Summary: One night, a ghost from Tarrant's past comes back to haunt him. Will Alice help Hatter regain his muchness?


**A/N: Ok So this is my first Alice/Tarrant fanfic, though I don't think you can call this that. Well anyways, I hope I made Hatter mad enough for you all!**

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**The Shadow Girl**

"Tarrant, are you having anyone over for tea?" Alice pondered, drying off the last of the dishes while looking out the window.  
"No, why do you ask?" The Hatter asked, walking into the kitchen. His eccentric orange hair stuck up in many places, and his eyes were bright green. His top hat sat crooked on his head.  
"Because, there is a young girl right by the tea table. I certainly didn't invite her." Alice turned her head to face her best friend, but he was much more to her now that she had stayed in Underland with Tarrant. But the Mad Hatter did not look at her in return.  
"No..." Tarrant whispered, backing away slowly, as if he'd seen a ghost. "No, it can't be, you're dead." The mad man sprinted from the room. "YOU'RE ALL DEAD!" He screamed down the hallway, the echos rebounding off the peeling wallpaper and settling into Alice's ears. She'd deal with him later, it wasn't safe for her to coax him like this. She went back to the stranger at the tea table.  
The girl did look like a ghost, that much was sure. Her skin was like moonlight, but you could see through it, like holding paper up to a candle. The girl's raven hair flowed eerily down her back, waving in the imaginary wind. Her face was pretty, her brown eyes wide and huge, as if witnessing something horrific. But it was the young girls body that was creepy enough. She wore a magnificent dress of purple and gold, one that Tarrant could make in seconds. But a dark crimson wound was blossoming from it, like a flower in spring. A little cocktail top hat was placed on her head, the colors matching the dress, and just like the Mad Hatters, it was placed a little lopsided.  
CRASH! Alice's gaze was torn from the mysterious girl as she raced to Tarrant's workshop. Even in here, there was a window where if you turned your head slightly, you could see the ghost girl.  
Tarrant had tipped over the desk he used to sew hats at. Yarn and ribbons littered the floor. Scissors were pinned in the wall. Alice had never seen him like this.  
"NO!" Yelled Tarrant. "GO AWAY! YOU'RE NOT REAL! YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD!" He threw teacups at the dirty window, Alice knew he was thinking that if one shard would hit the girl and she would walk away, as if she was sleepwalking.  
"Hatter!" Cried Alice, grabbing his stained hands in her slender ones.  
"De- I'm fine." Sighed Hatter hopelessly. His orange eyebrows drooped in sadness, and his eyes were a mournful blue. It looked like he was remembering something, because he didn't even acknowledge Alice was there. "She's not real. Not anymore." He said to himself quietly.  
"Who's not real, Hatter?" Questioned Alice softly, leading him to a dusty loveseat and sitting him down. A cloud of dust rose from the old cushions, making swirls in the air.  
"T-that girl you saw. She's dead."  
"Do you know her?"  
Tarrant looked out the window, his gaze fell on the shadow girl and then his head rested on the window. Alice could see tears coming down his cheeks.  
"Talking helps." She whispered comfortingly in her best friends ear.  
The Hatter took a shuddering gasp.  
"That girl, her name is Amethyst, and she died a long time ago, after your first visit, but before your second." He confessed, still looking out the window. "She was my little sister, and she was so smart. Smart and funny and proud and... And" Tarrant lost his train of thought and went mad again, pounding his fist on the window, making the glass shudder.  
Alice rubbed his back soothingly. "It's ok, Hatter." She promised. "Continue."  
"She was vaporized by the Jabberwocky. One minute she was with me, the next, I heard a blood curdling scream above the others, and it was my little sisters. It was Amethyst. When I saw her die by the Jabberwocky's hand, I knew I couldn't do anything. I'd failed her as a big brother. It's all my fault, Alice. I should have held on tighter to her. All my fault. All my fault."  
"Oh no, Tarrant, it's not." Cried out Alice, wanted to dispel that myth from her best friends mind. She wrapped her arms around Tarrants', and he grasped her hands like a lifeline. "I know how you feel."  
"No you don't."  
Alice felt a little flash of anger at this remark. "Don't you dare say that, Tarrant Hightopp, I do to! My father died when I was six and I thought it was all my fault." She scolded him. When he flinched at her words, she knew she was being too harsh. "I'm sorry." She added quickly.  
Amethyst was standing right below their window now, peering at them. She gestured for them to come to her. After a couple of minutes of consoling Hatter, they decided it was best if they did.  
Twilight had crept upon them, the fireflies twinkling in the crisp cool air. The crickets were singing their lonely lullaby, and the owls were hooting the chorus. Tarrant walked out, with his head bowed down in sorrow and in grief. His little sister ran up to him, delighted to see him once again.  
"Big brother! I haven't seen you in forever!" She screamed in joy, hugging him. She went right through him of course, and fell flat on her face. When she got up and brushed off the dirt off her pretty dress, she examined Hatter's face. "Tarrant, why aren't you smiling, this is a happy reunion you know, naughty!" She scolded him, her hands on her hips. Alice giggled, thinking of how much she acted like Tarrant in his good moods.  
Hatter smiled sadly. "I suppose it would be, Amethyst, but under the circumstances-"  
Amethyst's eyes got big and huge in understanding. "Oh, you're still going on about what happened with our family all those years ago? Please big brother, try to get over that."  
Tarrant look his little sister in the eyes. "How could I forget what I could have stopped?" His own eyes were a mixture of blue and grey, filled with an ocean of tears.  
"You could not have stopped the Jabberwocky, Tarrant, you know that. Only Alice can, and she did, so we're ok now." Said Amethyst.  
"I could have held on to your hand tighter." He said, his voice heavy with grief.  
Amethyst's eyes turned a dark shade of red. "Stop it, Tarrant! It isn't your fault! It never was, and it never will be!" At this remark, Hatter dropped the subject.  
"I miss you, little sister." He said, tears spilling down his cheeks, though in happiness or sadness, Alice couldn't tell.  
"I miss you too. I miss being able to do the futterwacken together on nights like these."  
Now The Mad Hatter smiled, a true genuine smile only Alice could get out of him. "We were rather good at it, weren't we?" Amethyst laughed and nodded, agreeing with her big brother. Then she turned her attention to Alice.  
"Who's this, Tarrant?"  
"Oh her? She's Alice."  
"The Alice?" Asked Amethyst in awe. When Alice and Tarrant nodded in unison, a smile was plastered on her face, wider than the Cheshire cat's, if that's even possible. "Did you actually do it? Did you really slay the Jabberwocky like everyone says?"  
"Yes, I really actually did." Said Alice, smiling down at the young girl.  
"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" She shouted in happiness, jumping around in the grass, the fireflies dancing around her. "But what are you doing with Tarrant? Why aren't you in Mamoreal in the white queen's court? I think you've earned it." Hatter's little sister asked, stopping and peering at the champion.  
Alice looked at Tarrant. Tarrant looked at Alice. They both smiled at each other.  
"Because no one understands me like Tarrant does." Answers Alice. Now was not the time nor the place to say her true feelings to her best friend in the whole wide world. But she would one day. One day, she'd tell Hatter that she loved him.  
"Oh." The young girl said, as if she understood. Night had cloaked them completely now, putting a black blanket over the Underland blue sky. Stars were sprinkled across the cosmos, lighting a path to the heavens.  
Alice yawned sleepily. It had been a long day of traveling and having tea parties, and she was exhausted. Hatter looked at her.  
"Looks like the champion is tired. We better head inside then." Tarrant teased her.  
"No," Alice protested. "You can stay here with Amethyst, I'll go to bed."  
"I've got to go, anyways. Mum and dad are probably worried about what mischief I caused this time, and then they'd be sending out ghost patrols to find me and undo the damage. Long story short, I'd better leave before I get in trouble." Said Amethyst.  
"Will I ever see you again?" Asked Tarrant hopefully, his eyes the bluest shade of green imaginable.  
"You'll see me in your dreams, big brother." Said Amethyst, slowly fading away. "Oh! One more thing, Tarrant." She waited impatiently for Hatter to kneel down to her level. She cupped a pale and translucent hand to his white ear. She whispered something, and Hatters eyes went a dark pink, the circles around his eyes a cherry red. She then faded away smiling, as if she had gotten the best christmas present ever.  
Alice and Tarrant headed inside and got into bed. Alice's head rested on Hatter's chest. She thought about her father and if he ever came to visit her. She supposed he did. But it hurt remembering nonetheless. She quickly removed that memory from her mind now.  
"Thank you, Alice." Said Tarrant quietly, as if he didn't want to disturb the darkness's slumber.  
"For what?" She asked.  
"For helping me regain my muchness tonight. I daresay I'd lost it, but you brought it back."  
"You're welcome Hatter. Can I ask you a question?"  
"Anything, Alice, anything at all."  
"What did Amethyst whisper in your ear before she left?"  
Hatter chuckled nervously. "Now that is an excellent question. Almost as good as why is a raven like a writing desk. I'll tell you tomorrow over morning tea." He was being difficult, but Alice would get the answer out of him sooner or later. "Alice?"  
She was almost asleep. "Uh huh?"  
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"  
Alice smiled in the darkness. "I'll tell you over morning tea."

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**A/N: So how'd you like it? Hate it? Love it? I don't care, just review! I like constructive critisim and this being my first AiW fic, I'd like to know what I can improve on and what I did excellently!**


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